It is unfortunate that not everyone can be raised on a farm. With its scenery, smells, and benefits, farms have a certain charm. Where else can you escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life? Who can really tolerate the car exhaust, the phone ringing, and the ranting and raving of unruly neighbors? For those out there that were raised on a farm, do you remember those damp mornings waking up and smelling freshly cut grass? Do you remember picking those pumpkins, carving them, and then devouring pieces of the pie your mother made? Do you remember those long wagon rides, ending with a warm cup of cider and hay stuck to your clothes?

When I step out of my cab in front of the Country Dreams Farm in Plattsburgh, I am greeted by nature and by Bella the dog, whose sloppy kisses make me feel right at home. I pet her and she leads me to her owner and owner of the farm, Melissa Provost who had bought the farm ten years ago. Immediately I remark how beautiful the farm was with it towering, golden sunflowers. "When I see a sunflower, it immediately invokes country," Provost says and I agree with her.

Golden sunflowers

We walked our way down a dirt path and met up with the farm's other worker, George Weidle, a husky man with snow-white whiskers that turn upward when he smiles. We shake hands and then both he and Provost lead me to their team of Belgium Draft horses named Pete and Pat. These horses are not to ride though; they are for work. They are one of the factors that bring people to the farm.

You see, the Country Dreams Farm is not any old farm. You will not find Old Mac Donald sitting, milking a cow either. People are gathered to this farm, located on Pellerin Road, to take advantage of these working horses among other things. The horses are used for plowing, planting, providing sleigh rides in the winter, and wagon rides in the autumn and spring.

George feeds Pete some wild oats

According to Provost, the activities are mostly for kids. The farm, which officially opens on October 1, does not have a cover charge. The pumpkins, corn, and gourds do have a price though. Special events such as Living History Demonstrations for schools offer hands on programs such as rope making, and candle making, blacksmithing, and various other crafts. Provost says most of the head-start classes around the general Plattsburgh area come to the farm. They usually market to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders because the kids are old enough to do the activities.

Inside of the gift shop, which will be done with construction on the first of October, offers country items such as honey, maple syrup, and an assortment of jams and jellies.

A motto of the farm is "striving to preserve farm life as it was in the 1800s." This observation of old farm life can be witnessed firsthand by looking at the pieces of machinery that have been resurrected by Provost and her helpers. "We constantly find unique and long forgotten pieces that are in need of care," Provost says. She refers to these pieces as "art that is lost." Most of the articles are locally given or sold to the farm and are horse-drawn oriented, some of them work and some do not. One member of the farm's collection is a traditional loader used for stacking hay that according to Provost, is going to take a lot of work to restore.

The farm in all it's splendor

The animals on the farm not only include Belgium horses and mules, but also include a variety of goats, which reside in a pen about the size of a tennis court. These animals attract people to the farm because of the hands-on interaction they can share. The people are allowed to touch and feed the goats, also free of charge. According to Provost, the baby goats are the most comical to watch and enjoy. They wrestle around with one another and knock each other off a large, gray rock positioned in the middle of the pen.

Gleeful goats

So what happens in the wintertime when the snow comes, the pumpkins are gone, and the sunflowers have disappeared? The wagons and sleighs of the farm not only are used as transportation for looking at the scenery when visitors come but they can also be retained for private parties and weddings. The animals are also not "barned," Provost says. This means that they are kept out of a barn during the cold season, unless one of them is injured.

Although winter is a slow time for the farm, Provost and workers still keep busy by plowing and tending to the animals. And they always have visitors stopping by for a sleigh ride or to simply purchase rhubarb that Provost grows. She said it's great for a Rhubarb Custard pie.

Provost believes that many people miss out on quaint things that can only be acquired through visiting or living on a farm. She says that it is a good place to inhabit for someone like herself who has lived in peace and quiet her entire life, and "doesn't know there is a bigger world out there." I couldn't have put it better myself.

What is your favorite farm activity?

Farm Information If you would like to visit Country Dreams Farm, contact Melissa Monty-Provost at 518-561-8941. It is located at 260 Pellerin Road next to the Military Turnpike in Plattsburgh.